Safe Haven
by SilverDrops-6593
Summary: A lot still happened the night Judy and Nick uncovered Bellwhether's plot. And a lot happened after that too. This is the story after the story. The story of how Nick and Judy got to know each other better, and how their friendship grew even stronger.
1. Chapter 1

**So I started messing around with chapter 5 of what was supposed to be just a mess of oneshots called Afterwards, and it started get longer and longer and longer, and now I have to split it.**

 **So I thought: that's it. I'm just gonna start publishing it as a full-fledged story of its own, give it a proper name and get it over with. The user ninaD suggested it, and now I'm gonna do this. :P**

 **So here we go. If you've already read Afterwards in my collection of dabbles, you can skip ahead to chapter 5. If not, have a good reading, and don't forget to review. ;)**

* * *

"Mayor Dawn Bellwether, you are under arrest."

The voice was gruff and grumpy, spine chilling even, reverberating throughout the great hall of the museum with its power. However, it brought only a sense of relief and happiness to both bunny and fox.

Any sound of protest from the sheep or her henchmen, or even the practiced pronouncing of her rights by another officer was entirely ignored. Nick noticed Judy wilt and melt against his side, releasing a sigh of exhaustion and relief that it was all over and they were both safe and sound.

"You okay, Carrots?" The fox asked, tightening his grip around her waist and bringing a paw to her own around his shoulder.

"Yeah." She smiled up at him. "Just glad that everything's okay."

But Nick saw that it wasn't all. He could see how tired she was. Not that he could blame her. "Lean on me."

She didn't question him, and tightened her hold on his shoulder.

Nick helped the wounded bunny to a fake rock and supported her so she could sit down and rest. The fake rock had texture made out of plaster, and probably had a plastic mold underneath, being hollow inside. Still, it was strong enough to easily support the lithe rabbit's weight.

Judy winced when she accidently moved her leg when she sat, but sighed in relief once settled. Nick kneeled next to her to check on the improvised bandage, grimacing at realizing that she had bled through the red fabric and the crimson liquid was slowly rolling down her leg, coating the fabric of her jeans as well.

With all their ruckus, it wasn't really a surprise that it didn't stop bleeding. Fortunately though, his messy bandage did its work and the bleeding was minimal.

His ears swirled forward at the sudden sound of Judy's giggles. He looked up in confusion, seeing her bending forward, her arms squared at her sides for support, slightly shaking in her mysterious amusement.

"What's so funny, Carrots?" He arched an eyebrow at her, a customary smirk pulling the corner of his lips.

Judy righted herself to look at him, her face covered in contentment. She raised a gray and white paw at him.

"Sly bunny and sly fox 1, dumb sheep 0." She announced. The fox laughed and high fived her. Her giggle evolved into a full and rich laughter at his outburst and both friends laughed aloud in glee.

"That was some great hustle right there, Carrots." He praised her after he recovered his breath. "You make me proud."

Her smile turned sly at his comment. "Why thank you, oh master hustler. I learned with the best."

When Nick's chest puffed out in pride at her compliment, the bunny rolled her eyes and playfully punched his arm, to which he halfheartedly yelped.

"Whoa there! Police brutality! Someone save me! This bunny is a savage!" He dramatically fell back on his rear, clutching his arm. The doe started to laugh again, widening Nick's smile. Hearing her laugh so carefree and happy elated the fox.

"What a goof." She shook her head as she murmured under her breath when she recovered.

Before they could continue to banter with one another, a thick rope was thrown over the edge of the pit, pooling by the wall next to them.

Putting aside their playfulness, the two mammals looked up to where the rope appeared, and saw Bogo start to climb down the pit. It wasn't a long descend for an animal of his size, but it would be rather difficult for him to get out of there without the rope.

The large cape buffalo turned towards them with what could only be described as a frown. It was unnerving, and immediately made the two mammals stay silent and recoil.

The buffalo then smiled and extended a hoof.

"Well done, officer Hopps."

Surprised at both the compliment, the smile and being addressed as a cop, Judy exchanged surprised glances with Nick. She extended her arm and took the much larger hoof, and Bogo gently shook her much smaller paw.

"Let's get you out of here now. The paramedics are ready to take care of you." He said, giving a quick glance to her wrapped up leg. "Hold on."

He leaned down and she braced herself. Not out of fear, but to ready herself for the sure juggle that would come. He scooped her up in his meaty arms, trying not to move her wounded limb too much. She still cringed.

"Fangmeyer!" He bellowed before reaching her up. A large tigeress quickly kneeled by the edge to reach her with both paws. She felt awkward being handled like a child from one set of paws - *cough* hooves – to another, but choose to ignore it. It's not like she could get out of there any other way.

As Fangmeyer carried her to the exit, she caught a glimpse of Nick being lifted out of the pit with the help of Officer Higgins - the hippo. He was guided away from the scene afterwards, and Bogo climbed out of the pit on his own, shouting orders to the other officers.

"Delgato, Higgins! Regular procedures on key witness testimony." He motioned to Nick. "Francine, McHorn, Wolford! Secure the subway station!" He pointed to the general direction to the subway entrance. "The rest secure the museum for investigation!"

It didn't go unnoticed by Judy the fact that Bogo was finally taking Nick seriously as a key witness, while he had disregarded the potential and strength of his testimony back in the Rainforest District.

She wasn't really sure what had triggered the change, but she sure wasn't about to question it, and the rabbit could only hope that Nick wouldn't try to get a little fun out of it either. Who knows what was the kind of nature of her boss' sense of humor. She was pretty sure it wasn't very smart to figure that out while he was on duty. Especially now of all times.

As Judy thought about it, a blur of large mammals clad in blue rushed back and forth to follow their orders all around. Bogo quickly caught up to Fangmeyer, and they both escorted her – carried in Fangmeyer's case -, through the mess and out of the museum.

The sun was starting to make its climb down to the horizon, but it was still high in the skies. She saw dozens of official vehicles surrounding the building to block the curious crowd of mammals and reporters converging there. She heard a helicopter or two out in the distance.

Any legal, and even illegal, parking space was taken by vehicles from all sorts of news broadcasting channels, spilling out reporters, interviewers and cameramammals. White flashes of cameras started to come from nearly everywhere as soon as they left the building. A thousand voices shouting out questions was starting to give her a headache.

An ambulance made its way through the blockage, where an officer removed a car for that purpose. It parked close to the stairs leading to the entrance, before a deer and a doe jumped from it and ran towards them carrying a stretcher.

The two paramedics stopped in front of Fangmeyer and looked at her in a moment of confusion.

"Hopps wasn't really attacked by a savage fox. It was a hustle." Bogo explained gruffly. "She's still injured though."

The two preys nodded in understanding. They set the stretcher down and helped her onto it. All the while she thought it would be easier if they just let the tiger carry her the rest of the way to the ambulance.

 _'_ _Protocols…'_ The bunny figured in slight annoyance. At least once settled her leg would not be moved until they got to the hospital. Hopefully.

Once she was moved onto the back of the ambulance, the deer and the doe immediately started to check her leg. So much for leaving it alone…

Away from her line of sight, Bogo gave a few orders to Fangmeyer, who briskly walked back into the museum to do as whatever she was told to. She had a spot of red in her paw from her blood.

Judy looked down to see the doe checking the improvised bandage. She noticed she had a pair of scissors in her hooves, but put them away after deciding that it wasn't safe to remove the bandage just yet.

"We'll remove this at the hospital." She explained. "It seems to be barely holding the hemorrhagic. We wouldn't want to make it worse removing it while we are not ready to stop the bleeding, would we?"

Judy nodded quietly. The doe started to check on her vitals as the other paramedic started to check her leg for fractures. She winced at the slight moves, but she didn't think her leg was broken.

"Can you tell us what happened, Ms. Hopps?" The deer asked as he continued with the procedures. "What caused this wound?"

"I tripped on… I think it was a tusk." Judy explained. "We were being chased. I was worried about our pursuers and didn't see it on the ground."

The deer nodded in understanding.

"That museum must be a mess from all the reformations." The doe commented with a friendly smile as she adjusted a small blood pressure monitor to her arm. "It started just a few days ago, and I'm sure it's far from over."

"We'll administer an antitetanus as soon as possible at the hospital, officer. Just to be safe." The other paramedic said, continuing to clean the wound. He started to secure her leg in a splint, which was set on a strange looking box of sorts made out of some kind of foam. "Your leg doesn't seem to be broken, Ms. Hopps, but we'll need an x-ray to be sure. We'll also keep it slightly elevated to reduce the bleeding."

Judy nodded silently, her eyes fixed to the white ceiling of the ambulance. She could feel her wound pulsating, hot and stinging. It felt like her blood was rebelliously moving into the limb, pushing against the bandages, but at least the pain seemed to be lessening.

Bogo, who had been silently watching and listening, straightened himself up. "Your part is done here, Hopps. We'll discuss the details at another proper time. You need your rest for now." He reached a hoof. "The pen."

She glanced up at him, and remembering of the strongest evidence against Bellwether, she quickly retrieved the object from her pocket. The pen was dwarfed in the large buffalo's hooves, but he held it like a treasure. With a satisfied smirk and a curt nod, he turned away from her, muttering something like: "Don't expect it to be returned."

The two dumbstruck paramedics looked from one large prey mammal to the much smaller one. Judy shrugged at them, joining her paws on top of her stomach.

"That's chief Bogo for you. He's rude, but he cares. In his own way."

The deer and doe exchanged another look. Together they had at least 20 years of experience on this line of duty, but they were pretty sure they could add 20 years more, and they'd still not really understood cops.

The female paramedic injected a small dose of analgesic in her arm so she could feel better and rest.

Staring at the bright ceiling of the ambulance, Judy let her mind wander.

It had been quite two eventful and exhausting days. After a tearful reunion with her best friend, a dangerous skirmish in the subways, an exposure of a major conspiracy, a game of pred-and-prey and a possible fracture to her leg – including all the near-death encounters along the way, Judy decided that she was thoroughly done for the day.

The analgesics administered directly to her bloodstream were starting to take effect, and just adding to her drowsiness.

She didn't care if it was her tiny apartment or the hospital, she just wanted a bed and a proper night of sleep.

"Now I have to admit" Her eyes shot open and ears shot up at the voice that suddenly came into the ambulance. Turning her head, she noticed Nick being helped by Higgins onto a second stretcher. Since they were smaller animals, so were the stretchers, and the ambulance accommodated both quite easily with space to spare. "It's been a while since I had such a crazy day like this."

She couldn't help a tired smile. "You don't say? You don't sound like the kind of fox who enjoys being hunted down by a bunch of psychopath sheep, so I'm not surprised."

"Ha! You don't know me, fluff." Nick wore his best smirk, until the doe started to prod at his side, and his smirk gave way to a painful wince. "Ouch. Gonna feel that into next mouth, I guess."

The doe looked up with a knowing glance. "You bet."

Judy's eyebrows narrowed in concern. "You ok?"

"Apart from my sore pride and ribs, yeah I'm fine." He looked down at her leg, cringing at the blood he could see plastering the leg of her jeans all the way down to her foot. "Your leg?"

She looked down at it, but didn't dare move it. "Not broken. But they want to see an x-ray to be sure. I think it's fractured though. Not sure."

She saw his hackles raise at the notion. She guessed he never had a broken bone before. She knew the pain quite well, having had an unfortunate but honestly expected childhood experience involving a soccer team of brothers and sisters of nearly the same age playing on a rather rainy day. The sound of her clavicle snapping against the goal still made her shudder to these days.

She averted her eyes when the doe asked Nick to open his shirt for her to better check his ribs. And of course he would tease her for it.

"You don't need to be so shy, Carrots. Though you should feel lucky to be in the presence of someone so handsome as me being striped before you." He whispered as he unbuttoned his shirt, his tone low enough that the two other prey there didn't hear it, but loud enough that Judy's superb hearing did.

He snickered when the rabbit made to punch his arm, her ears straight up and reddening on the inside. The rabbit only held back because she knew he was injured, she wasn't strong enough at the moment, and the paramedics were staring oddly at her.

"Fortunately your ribs aren't broken or fractured either, Mr. Wilde." The doe reported her findings. "But there might be some deep bruising and soreness. Nothing some aspirin can't fix for a few days. Just apply a warm compress today and cold compresses for the rest of the week."

The fox nodded, shouldering his shirt back on.

"By the way, you have something white on your muzzle, Mr. Wilde." She added.

Judy looked back at him when the doe mentioned it. She saw Nick wipe at his mouth, finding white foam still coming out on the back of his paw. Judy started to giggle, and he frowned at her.

"You owe me for this one, Carrots."

"Me?" The bunny clasped her paws to her chest in a fake gesture of offense. " _You_ decided to bite the dickens out of that stuffed animal figurine, not me."

The fox playfully rolled his eyes. "I was adding some drama to your little plan, Carrots. Real drama, unlike your little act back there. If it wasn't for me, that plan would have never worked."

"Well, excuse me." She clasped a paw to her chest in defense, where her badge would have been. "There's a reason why I turned out to be a cop, not an actress."

"True." He smirked at the glare he received. "What? You said it, no me."

"You don't have to agree!"

The two paramedics shook their head at their playful banter, and decided to leave them at it. They were just blowing off steam now, so they let them as they took to the front of the ambulance to drive to the hospital, a pair of cops opening way for them.

Nick cleaned the blue juices of blueberry staining his neck with a finger and licked it clean.

"Ewww! That's so gross Nick!"

"What? It's just blueberry! You should try some."

"No, keep your paws away from me!"

"Come on Carrots, just a bit. You baby bun!"


	2. Chapter 2

They had been separated when they gave entry to the hospital. Nick was taken to a room where non-emergency patients were treated, while Judy was taken further into the hospital, probably to get an x-ray.

She looked over her shoulder and waved at him with a smile, mouthing a 'see you later, slick'. He waved back with his trademark smirk, mouthing 'see you later, fluff', just as she went through the double door that flapped back into place and he could no longer see her.

"The doctor will be with you soon, Mr. Wilde. Try to relax and rest." A kind female lynx nurse said after she took his vitals. She closed the curtains around his bed and moved on to the next patient.

Nick ignored her questions to whatever animal she was seeing on the other side of the curtain and tried to relax in the stiff bed of the hospital. The throbbing of his ribs was hard to ignore, but he wasn't too concerned. Right now he could only think of a few choice snacks to get rid of the bitter taste of stuffing in his mouth. He remembered seeing a vending machine just outside of the ER.

It didn't take long for a doctor to enter his private space. It was a porcupine clad in the customary white coat, a stethoscope around his neck and a pair of glasses a bit too small for him perched at the very edge of his nose.

"Good evening, Mr. Wilde." The porcupine sounded tired, a bit bored at best. "I'm doctor Quilltone, and I'm here to check on your ribs."

The direct and short treatment didn't surprise Nick in the slightest. But at least, after some more painful prodding and poking, and confirming that he would be feeling his very bruised but not broken ribs into next month, he was given a prescription for stronger painkillers and advices on how to treat and heal his wound faster.

And he was free to go. The doctor said a tired goodbye and moved on muttering in relief about the last two patients of his shift for the night. While a bit rude in his tiredness, the doctor turned out to be rather nice, especially considering he was a prey and Nick was a predator, a fox nonetheless.

Nick pocketed the prescription and carefully climbed down the stretcher. He limped slightly, but tried to maintain a good figure as he emerged into the waiting room.

It was already night outside.

He left the ER in search of the vending machine.

 _'_ _It has coffee too. Good.'_ He smiled in victory, fishing for his wallet. He bought a coffee and a snack in the vending machine and returned inside the ER, sitting on a chair in the waiting room to… well, wait.

He looked down at the cereal and dry bug bar and sighed, whishing he had blueberries instead. Especially from the Hopps Family. They were the tastiest he had ever tried, and he'd need to think of a good hustle to get some more from Judy.

 _'_ _Though I think she might just give me some if I asked.'_ He smiled, taking another bite from his cereal and bug bar and a sip from the steaming coffee. Hustling mammals was a habit that was hard to kill after so many years, but since meeting Judy, he was trying his best.

At this hour of the night, there wasn't that many animals in the hospital's waiting room, even though it was the main hospital in Savanna Central and it was Friday.

An old couple of bears was sitting by the corner, the male having coughing fits from time to time and the female patting him in the back in an attempt to make it stop.

There was a coyote pup and an antelope fawn accompanied by their mothers, one looking paler and more nauseous than the other.

A middle-aged manned wolf with a footpaw in a cast was dozing off a few chairs to his left, trying to hold on to a pair of crutches so they wouldn't tumble to the floor.

Any other mammal who was in the room was sitting behind Nick's back, quietly talking among themselves, but he wasn't interested enough to check them.

He pulled out his phone – which had surprisingly survived intact from the craziness of the entire day, and checked his statuses on several social websites he had an account on.

He updated some of them, reading and re-reading the posts carefully to not reveal too much information before letting them into the internet. The ZPD didn't want too much information going around until they sorted it all out, and the two officers who questioned him advised him as much. The city was facing a delicate crisis, and misinformation spilling too soon could be disastrous. It was nearly impossible considering how news like that spread like wild fire, but he wasn't gonna be the first one to spill the beans.

He did notice his accounts were being bombarded more than normal though. He blamed the reporters at the entrance of the museum, but he didn't mind the little fame.

He took a selfie or two, but upon looking at them he decided to leave it alone. He looked like a wreck anyway.

Settling back on the chair and watching the hospital usual routine, Nick allowed himself to relax and his mind started to wander, thinking of all the craziness of the last two days, and what a roller coaster of emotions the last three months had been.

 _'_ _The last three months...'_ The fox pondered with a sigh. _'It's strange really, how it took me three months to recover from something that happened in a single morning.'_ A single moment really.

To be fair, it was a hard hit. Of course, he was over it now and had forgiven Judy, but at the time it had hurt. Bad. After all, that stubborn bunny had head-butted against his defenses until she gained his trust, and all the while the greatest hypocrisy in their relationship was strapped to her hip in the form of a brightly red canister.

He had seen it, ignored it, worried over it, and denied it until that very morning in the press conference. Surely she had a strong motive to carry fox repellent around with her? It wasn't because she was afraid of him, right? It clearly stated FOX repellent, but it could be a self-defense mechanism against any possible aggressor, no matter the species.

He denied it.

But it was in vain, for as soon as he tested the theory, she had reached for it. She _was_ afraid of him. She thought of foxes the same way as any other mammal in this blasted city. He should have known. It was there, right under his nose all the time, but he ignored it. He foolishly denied it, and allowed her closer. He had been angry. He had shoved the application back in her paws, ripped the sticker from his shirt and threw it unceremoniously to the ground and marched out of the police station.

He had been angry for several days more after that. Angry at Judy, angry at the city, angry at prey animals, angry at predator animals, angry at himself. Each target had a reason, some of them reasonable, some of them insane.

Some small amount of reason only started to kick in two weeks afterwards, when he saw a scene that made him reflect about the incident.

He couldn't quite remember where he was, but a gray moving blur had attracted his attention. He instantaneously remembered Judy and held back a scowl. But when he glanced towards it, he realized it was just a chinchilla kit. A young boy, around 6 or 7 years old, his fur a shade of gray that startlingly reminded him of Judy.

The young kit run around with a colorful ball in his tiny paws, a joyful and carefree expression plastered on his face. He must have gotten it as a gift recently, and was still enamored with it. He proudly showed it to his fellow prey friends, until he caught sight of a new potential playmate: a shy hyena pup, who seemed too afraid to make a move and find a new friend.

Nick had watched the chinchilla skip on his feet towards the predator pup, not a glimpse of fear or hesitancy in his determined and joyful face. The fox half expected the chinchilla to show off his toy, make fun of the hyena, or in the very least gain his trust only to shove a muzzle into his snout and laugh.

But instead, the rodent happily invited the predator to play with him and his new ball. When the predator politely refused, the prey persisted, until minutes later, the two were chasing after the ball like there was nothing more important in the world to do.

Nick had watched them play for a good 5 minutes, a tiny smile wanting to quirk his lips. The fox was proud of his ability to read people, and cubs were the easiest to read. He found nothing but innocence and happiness in them. There was no bias or prejudice there.

Until the chinchilla was suddenly snatched form the ground by an adult female, who glared angrily at the hyena.

"Stay away from my son, you bloody monster!" The angry mother had shouted, scaring the poor hyena pup away. The predator run away in tears, while the chinchilla stared wide eyed at his mother angrily scolding him. Hateful words spilled from the mother's muzzle, and the kit's eyes widened more with fear and anger.

And right there, Nick saw the seed of prejudice being planted. That kit would come to hate and fear predators for the rest of his life, and would continue this legacy of prejudice to the next generation, despite the happy 5 minutes of happiness he had spent with the shy hyena.

Nick had stood from wherever he was sitting and didn't stop walking until his feet decided on their own to stop. He had realized that maybe, just maybe, this entire mess wasn't completely Judy's fault. Maybe she had been friends with predators back when she was a kit herself, and her fearful parents had planted the seed of fear in her, out of fear themselves. What could a child do but to trust them?

Maybe snarling at her was a bad idea. Maybe he should have stopped short of showing her his fangs. He should have proven a point, not proven her right!

From that moment on, Nick had bargained with himself. He decided that it was all a misunderstanding, and they were both at fault there. She had scratched raw an old scar of his past, and who knows if maybe he hadn't done the same on her?

 _'_ _Let's forget and move on.'_ It had been the basis of his inner speech when he sought her out at the police station. After all, if they both were at fault, they could just forgive one another, forget the whole incident, and move on with their lives, strengthened by a lesson learned. Maybe he could ask her if she still wanted a partner. He kind of liked solving the case by her side. It had been an opportunity to live up to his promise as a ranger scout: to be loyal, brave, helpful and trustworthy. It was a chance to prove that foxes were so much more.

But he had been too late. His partner had resigned, possibly out of shame for what she had done. It had been a mistake. And he hadn't given her a chance to redeem herself.

Judy was gone from his life. Possibly for good.

Nick had entered the department in a state of bargain, and left in a state of depression. Which had followed him to that very moment under the bridge.

 _'_ _It doesn't matter now.'_ Nick decided as he opened his eyes, a content smile lifting his lips. _'In the end, everything is fine.'_

Denial.

Anger.

Bargain.

Depression.

Acceptance.

The five stages of grief.

 _'_ _Acceptance.'_ The fox thought again, contently. _'We'll be alright, Carrots.'_

Everything had been alright from the moment he had pulled her small body against his own in forgiveness. All those three months seemed to have vanished the moment they had entered the old truck, and they were back exactly where they had left off: playfully bantering and mocking one another like best friends who had never had a fight.

"Judith Laverne Hopps?"

The fox's ears and head shot up at the name. He spotted a painted dog¹ clad in a white coat and holding a clipboard, standing by the entrance to the innermost areas of the hospital, looking around for a reaction. Nick stood and walked towards him.

 **(Note 1: It's a Wild African Dog.)**

The tall dog spotted him and offered his paw and a friendly smile. "Good night, sir. I'm doctor Dogson. I looked after your friend, Judith Hopps."

"Nick Wilde." The fox shock the fellow canine's paw. "Is she alright, doctor?"

"Ready to take on the whole world if you let her." Dogson said humorously. "She's an energetic little thing. She looked at me as if I had diagnosed her with a serious illness when I recommended she use a pair of crutches for a couple of days."

"That's Judy for you." The fox chuckled, relieved that she was okay. "And her leg?"

"She's got what we usually call a greenstick fracture. It means that her bone cracked, but didn't break completely." The dog looked down at his clipboard to confirm his diagnosis. "Since she's a young and healthy rabbit, we decided to use a simple splinter rather than get her leg in a cast. She'd only stress herself if we did that. With plenty of rest for the weekend, she'll be good to go back to work on Monday if she's feeling up to it. Desk duty of course."

Nick would have argued against that. He wanted her to rest, but knew that Judy was too much of a workaholic to accept a medical leave. But then again, she had resigned from being a police officer, so it would probably take a while before she was reinstated. Long enough for her leg to heal.

Nick nodded quietly to the dog. "Thank you, doctor."

"Don't mention it, Mr. Wilde. I'm glad to help." The two canines shook paws again before he left to return to his work.

 _'_ _I like this guy.'_ Nick thought to himself as he returned to sit and wait. It wasn't every day he found someone who was actually nice to a fox, even a predator.

Nick waited patiently exactly where he was left standing. Soon enough, a male prairie dog nurse appeared pushing Judy on a wheel chair, one of her legs bandaged in bright red elastic bandage, resting on the pawrest of the wheelchair. She looked slightly groggy from medication, holding a pair of crutches on her lap. Her jeans were rolled up to her thighs.

"Thank you." She said to the prairie dog before she turned to Nick, who was approaching her with a lazy smirk. She braced her paws on the wheelchair to get up, crutches nearly tumbling to the floor as she ignored them. "Look, I can walk-…"

"Sit." He said with a motion of his clawed finger. She sighed and sat back, as if she was tired of hearing that order and gave up on protesting long ago. The fox walked behind the wheelchair and started pushing her gently towards the exit. "I like pushing you around." He joked.

She shook her head with a sigh, but a smile curved her lips.

The fox looked down at her, noticing that she held a transparent plastic bag on her lap just underneath the crutches, and inside, he recognized the cloth he used to help her back in the museum, still coated in blood.

He smiled, but focused his gaze on her bandaged leg. "Does it hurt?"

"I'm so high on painkillers…" She yawned. "…you could chop it off and I wouldn't feel a thing."

"Hearing that sort of thing from you, you are high alright." He chuckled. "Careful there, officer Hopps. It wouldn't be good for your reputation to be using drugs."

"Shut up, slick." She admonished half-heartedly. "Just get me out of here. I don't like hospitals."

The fox decided to leave her alone for now. He noticed that her head was starting to drop in weariness, but decided against teasing her. He couldn't blame her for being so exhausted.

Nick pushed Judy's wheelchair to the front of the hospital, where the busy nightlife of Savanna Central met them.

"I'll call Finnick. He can give us a ride." He said to her before pulling out his phone. She nodded and tried to relax, watching the activities in the streets, the sound of his voice lowering in her ears as he strolled back and forth as he talked to his friend.

Judy leaned her head back against the backrest of the wheelchair – it was meant for animals slightly bigger than a bunny, like a fox or badger, and so she could rest her head back almost comfortably. She looked up at the skies, but was disappointed – even though she expected it – that it was pitch black and without a single trace of stars. The moon was the sole and lonely sovereign in the night sky.

It made her reminisce on the times of her youth, when she and siblings close to her age would sneak out in the middle of the night to play under the stars. They even chose to do so in nights of full moon, so that their poor night vision wouldn't be a bother. It didn't mean they could avoid tripping on unsuspecting rocks and roots, and they had to be creative to explain sheets turned brown with dirt in the morning.

Until one night, she decided to take a flashlight and lead her dirty siblings to the shallow river near their farm, where they'd wash up and get rid of the dirt in their fur and pajamas. Wet beds was easier to explain rather than sheets dirty with soil, although it got too embarrassing as they aged. The good thing was that they were old enough by then to be allowed outside at night.

Judy smiled when she remembered the day the siblings of the three first litters decided to reveal to their parents why they still 'wetted their beds' at the age of 11 after so long. The whole ordeal had resulted in laughter for hours, and the reveal of more stories about kits rebelling in ingenious ways.

 _'_ _It's a good story to tell Nick sometime.'_ She thought amusedly. _'The adventures of a bunch of rednecks bunnies having fun. City fox won't believe any of them.'_

"Carrots, wake up."

Judy opened her eyes with a start, realizing that she had dozed off. Nick's smirk stretched impossibly far across his muzzle as he leaned down next to her.

"Not a single word, fox." She threatened in annoyance.

The fox leaned back and raised his paws in defense, but the smirk was still there, unwavering.

And across the street, she spotted Finnick's van parked and waiting for them.

She must have dozed off for a while, and judging Nick's wide grin, he knew.

"I know you were getting comfortable in it, Fluff, but we need to leave the wheelchair here." The red fox teased her. Of course he did.

Judy sighed and braced her paws on the sides of the wheelchair, but before she did anything else, Nick was already lifting her in his arms with ease. She instinctively reached a paw across his shoulders and sent a half-hearted glare at him, which he laughed at. "I didn't say you had to walk. I was just warning you."

"What about those?" She pointed to the crutches, which he had slung on his shoulder by looping his arm through the middle. "What are they for, dumb fox?"

"Those are for tomorrow only. The doctor said you need plenty of rest, so the next thing you'll do is eat something and crash. Dumb bunny."

The bunny knew it was a lost battle. Nick wasn't going to change his mind about that line of plan. "Okay, mama." So she slumped against his arms in defeat. "Geez, you're even worse than my parents."

The fox laughed. "That's my bunny girl." He would have petted her between the ears if he could. "You know Carrots, between you and Finnick as my children, I would have made a thousand bucks a day. If only you looked more childlike like Finnick does. Cause you already got 'cute' covered up."

Judy snorted and playfully pushed his muzzle. "Don't call me cute, fox."

"Adorable?" He offered with an odd smirk, as Judy's paw still pushed against his maws.

She pushed him further away. "Never!"

The two continued laughing as Nick made his way to the van.

"You can nap in my arms now if you want, sleepyhead." He chuckled, reaching the handle of the door while supporting Judy's leg with his forearm and opening the door without much difficulty. "Speaking of your parents, you should probably call them too. The news are spreading like wild fire, and it seems the entire Zootopia knows that you're injured. When it gets to your parents, they'll freak out."

"You're right." The bunny sighed. "Not looking forward to it though."

"Why? Overprotective much?" The fox questioned as he climbed on the passage side and gently settled her down in the middle, between him and Finnick.

"You have no idea." She shook her head from the conversation as she looked at Finnick, while Nick tried to buckle her up. "Hey Finnick."

"Hey there, officer Toot-Toot." The fennec fox greeted her with a playful smile. "Havin' a good time hustling that stupid ol' fox over there?" A grin spread across the smaller canine's mouth as he nodded at the frowning red fox who was buckling himself up next to her.

"Oh, I got him wrapped around my finger." She said right back, earning a chuckle from the deep-voiced little fox. She reached up and patted Nick on the head between his ears. "You'd think he's a big tough fox, but he's just a big bowl of mush."

Finnick wheezed as he kept laughing, to which Nick's frown only deepened. "Rabbit, you're creating a monster." He grumped, moving his head away from her paw.

"So dramatic…" She smirked, relaxing on the seat.

Still laughing, the fennec fox pulled the van into the road. It took about three blocks before he stopped laughing and was able to ask Judy where he was supposed to be driving. "So Fluff, where's your den? Where do ya' live?"

"First of all, we call it warren or burrow, not a den." Judy corrected him. "Second, any cheap hotel will do. I had to vacate my apartment since I wasn't sure I'd return to Zootopia after… you know."

"Cheap hotel?" Nick looked at her with an exaggerated indignant façade. "No way, Carrots. I ain't letting my partner crash in a dump. Finnick, my place."

Judy looked up at him in surprise as Finnick grumbled under his breath, maneuvering the truck for a turn around. "What do you mean?"

"You're staying at my place until we find you a new apartment." His tone was of finality. Again, there was no room for discussion. "It might not be the most deluxe place in Zootopia, but I guarantee you it's way better than your cheap hotel room, Carrots."

Finnick muttered under his breath again. "You wish…"

"Shut up, Finnick!"

Judy ignored their quarrel. "If… it's not too much trouble, Nick…"

"None at all, Carrots." He smiled. "We could even order some pizza and watch a movie if you'd like?" He looked up at his fellow fox. "Finnick, wanna join?"

"Nah." He rested his arm out the window. "I'd rather not be a third wheel in your little date."

Judy felt the insides of her ears heating up. She flattened them down her back in an attempt to hide the evidence of her embarrassment, and by the corner of her eyes, she noticed that the lighter fur on Nick's neck had turned a slightly darker shade.

"S-shut up, Finnick!"

Once again, the ride became silent and awkward, only interrupted by Finnick's snickering. He seemed to be having fun making the situation awkward between the two of them.

A mortified Nick turned his attention to the passing buildings on the window.

As a means to distract herself as well, Judy pulled out her phone to check if her parents had called or left any messages. She knew it wouldn't take long for them to call, what with every news broadcasting channel overtaken with the growing fame of the 'Savage Case', to which she was pretty much a part of.

Still, she wanted to be in a more private place before being bombarded by their overprotective antics.

A few minutes later, the van parked in front of an old and large apartment complex. The brick building was old and no more than five stores high, but apart from some graffiti on the walls, it looked well preserved.

Nick jumped out of the van before he started to help Judy out as well, quickly handling her the crutches. She fixed them under her armpits, frowning at how odd it was to use them, but reluctantly admitting that they helped her keep weight off her wounded leg.

"You good?" He asked, his paws tentatively raised and ready to catch her if she fell.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good." She turned around to face him. "Not sure I want to get the hang of it though."

Nick smirked as he turned to close the door of the van. "You're too feisty for your own good, Carrots."

She shook her head, maneuvering herself to start walking towards the building. Until she noticed the fox wasn't following and didn't even close the van's door yet. "Nick?"

"You know, Carrots, I just remembered something." He looked at her with an uneasy smile. "We totally forgot your truck back in Banyan Street."


	3. Chapter 3

_'_ _10-14 in progress! Report on scene, officer!'_

 _'_ _Danger! Run!'_

 _'_ _Danger! Fight!'_

Judy woke up to an agitated mind. Primal instincts and police instincts clashed in her mind over a dangerous situation she presumed was from a dream. A nightmare.

Opening her eyes, it took her a while to recognize that she was in Nick's apartment, more specifically in his living room, on his couch.

The kitchen living room was dimly illuminated by the bathroom light, which Nick had left on before he retired to his room, joking that he didn't want her stumbling on his furniture around and face planting the walls.

His joking was, of course, just a mask for his caring towards her. He knew she had poor night vision, and he wanted to be sure she could find her way around if she needed anything.

Judy ran a mental check on herself: bladder wasn't demanding her to go to the bathroom, she wasn't thirsty and she could still feel her stomach full of pizza.

What truly woke her up were her conflicted mind, her ears agitatedly rotating on top of her head and her nose twitching like there was no tomorrow.

 _'_ _I don't remember having a nightmare.'_ The bunny thought to herself as she sat up on the couch, patting the end table for her phone. It was 3 AM. _'Great…'_

Her mind was too agitated for her to go back to sleep. She took her crouches, praying that she could make it to the kitchen without waking up Nick, and carefully started to make her way there for a drink of water.

A far away noise made her stop in the middle of the small living room. A door closing, probably a few floors down. _'But at this hour? Well… could be someone back from a busy night on a Friday night. Pretty normal, right? Stop being paranoiac, Judy.'_

The rabbit shook her head and continued to the kitchen. As she reached for the fridge, she heard the sound again, this time of a door opening. She blamed her uneasiness on the dream she could not really remember.

But by the time she drank her water, refilled the bottle and returned to the couch, she heard the same sound several times. Until it got closer, to the next floor up.

 _'_ _Okay, something is definitely wrong.'_ The bunny decided as she made her way, as silently as she could manage, to the door. She fished the keys on the table next to it, unlocked and opened the door, and went to the corridor outside.

The light stayed on all night long and the corridor was a lot more illuminated than inside the apartment. She limped to the stairs and looked down the space between the stairs that went all the way down to the ground floor.

She kept watching, hearing the sound of doors opening and closing, realizing that there was excessive care in making as less noise as possible. But what really got her nervous was that someone was breaking in apartments one by one in the middle of the night.

All of a sudden, she saw whoever was breaking in the complex climbing the stairs from the first floor to the second.

 _'_ _Doug!'_ Judy paled. He had a gun in his hoof and his face wasn't happy. _'He must be looking for us! Nick!'_

Her mind was racing as she limped back into the apartment as fast and quietly as she could. She locked the door, but knew it was useless: he would pick the lock like he was doing to the other apartments.

She raced to Nick's bedroom, not bothering on knocking. "Nick! Wake up! We got problems!"

The fox jerked on the bed, the little light coming from outside revealing that he was shirtless. Bright green eyes reflecting the light from outside looked surprised at her. "Carrots? What the-?"

"Doug is here." The bunny reached a paw and gripped his arm. The ignored crutch fell against the bed. "He's armed and after us."

"Doug? Us? W-what are you talking about-…?" Nick stuttered as he was yanked from the bed and dragged to the living room. "Carrots, wait! Wait!" He yanked his arm from her paws with a huff. "Care to explain to me what's going on?!"

Judy sighed in frustration before grabbing his arm again, with both paws, and dragging him out of the apartment and into the corridor. Her second stretcher fell forgotten against the couch.

She pulled him to a stop by the stairs and shushed him at his protests, pointing to the pit between the stairs. Soon enough, he paled at the sight of the murderous sheep climbing to the third floor.

"W-what do we do?" The fox whispered in a panic.

Judy pulled him back to his apartment, her mind racing. If it wasn't for her injury, she would be able to pull a surprise attack, knock him out and get the ZPD to take care of the rest. But in her condition, she didn't stand a chance.

Nick watched helplessly, terrified, as Judy paced the apartment, her wounded leg limping slightly, apparently forgotten. He would have stopped her from injuring herself further if he wasn't having a near panic attack right now.

Then all of a sudden, Judy stopped with a look of hope. She looked at him with a determined gaze. "I need to get to the truck. Where's the fire stairs?"

He shakenly pointed to a glass sliding door across the living room. It was covered by a curtain, but Judy could see the shadows of a fence around a veranda.

She marched up to the curtains and pulled them open, relieved to see the fire stairs leading down to the parking lot of the complex. The blinking lights of the parking lot revealed her family's truck underneath it.

 _'_ _I've got to be quick.'_ The rabbit looked down at her leg. It was pulsating and very hot, but adrenaline numbed the pain for the moment. She could do it.

Nick watched as she turned and limbed back to him. "Judy, what are you thinking? What are you gonna do?"

Her heart clenched at the desperate way he called her real name. He was terrified.

"Nick, listen to me. There's a gun in the glove compartment of the truck. I need to go get it if we have any chance of escaping Doug."

"We could just get the hell out of here!" He protested.

"I wouldn't get far with this leg. He'll catch up." Her grip tightened. "You stay hidden, and I'll get that gun. I promise I'll come back for you!"

"No." He shook her paws from his shoulders. "I'll get it. I can get there faster. Your leg will only get worse if you climb down those stairs."

"Nick…"

"Do you trust me, Judy?"

She looked up at his green eyes full of fear, hurt and worry. She felt like staring at him when he asked her if she was afraid of him, so long ago, after that press conference.

She turned around and his heart felt like being pierced for the second time by the same mammal. "Judy…"

He flinched before catching the keys she flung at him.

"Go. Don't make a sound." Her amethyst eyes bore into him. "Get the gun, the box of ammunition and the taser. Don't think too much. Just do it. I'll explain everything later."

His face was of shock, mouth slightly agape. Hers was of trust, lips upwards in an unwavering smile.

He marched up to her and pulled her in his arms in a strong embrace.

"I won't let you down, Carrots. I promise!" He whispered in her ear. She barely had time to return the hug before he dashed to the sliding door. He vanished down the stairs without a sound.

"I'm counting on you, Nick." She smiled before limping to the door to keep watch. She was in a very vulnerable position, and her life was in a fox's paws. She could only hope he was fast enough.

She heard Doug climbing his way to the fourth floor.


	4. Chapter 4

Nick was grateful that the old blue truck didn't have an alarm to alert Doug, but it made unlocking it quite frustratingly slow. The key caught in the lock a few times before finally turning.

He threw the driver's door open and scampered inside. He searched the second key in the key buddle, thankful that there weren't too many. On the second attempt, the glove compartment opened with a loud squeak of protest.

The blinking lamp light of the parking lot reflected something black at the very back of the compartment. He threw his paw in there and grasped it in a death grip. Pulling it out, he almost shivered.

It was a fully black 9mm sized for a bunny, but it felt heavy in his paws. The sight of it gave him a strange feeling. While he had seen a gun before, he had never been this close to one, much less held one in his own paws.

 _'_ _Don't think too much.'_ Judy's voice sounded in his mind, reminding and scolding him.

He reached his other paw in the compartment and grabbed a black box. It was 9mm ammunition. There was a stun gun on the other corner and he grabbed that as well. He caught a glimpse of the brand: Pred-Away. He pushed aside any thoughts on the matter and pocketed it along with the ammunition. He didn't trust the gun so much, and carried it in his paws.

 _'_ _Who would have thought that a family of bunnies would be so armed?'_ He entertained the thought for a second in a moment of amusement as he ran up the stairs as quietly as he could, skipping three steps at a time. He ignored the burning in his lungs from the effort. _'I need to work out more.'_

Getting back to his apartment felt like an eternity. He found Judy prying through an open slit at the front door.

"Carrots!" He scream-whispered in victory. She dashed to his side and he quickly pushed the weapons in her paws. "Now what?"

Without answering him, she grabbed the fox's arm and pulled him towards the kitchen. She forced him on his knees behind the counter before knelling next to him.

"Carrots, what are you _doing_?" He scream-whispered at her in bewilderment.

She opened the ammunition box and set it on the floor. With fascinating expertise, the rabbit pulled the top of the gun back, revealing silver coloring along the revealed parts. She picked a magazine from the box and inserted it in the hollow bottom of the handle. It made a familiar sound that Nick had only heard in movies. The top part of the weapon slid back into place with a satisfying click.

Nick watched it all in fascination at how skillfully she managed the gun.

"Listen to me, Nick." Judy said as she placed the gun under the hem of her pants. She picked the stun gun she left on the floor and pushed it into his paws. "If anything comes through that door, wait for them to get close enough and zap the living lights out of them. Discharge the entire thing."

"Judy, I-I don't-?" He looked from her to the taser, his paws starting to tremble. She was gonna leave him here alone? Armed with something he had never used before?

"Don't move from this corner until I get back, okay?" Her paw gripped his shoulder. "No matter what, don't let go of this taser until I get back, you hear me?" She moved her paw to hold his around the taser, only big enough to clutch his knuckles.

He mutely nodded, and Judy stood with her 9mm clutched in both paws, moving in sure steps as she kept her aim at the door. She was barely limping now. If Nick didn't know any better, he'd never guess she had a sizeable wound and a minor fracture on her leg. And had they not been in grave danger, he'd be fascinated at her bravery.

She moved smoothly and silently to the door, and she leaned against the wall next to it. She looked towards where she left her fox friend. From here, she could only see his eyes peeking at her from around the counter separating the kitchen from the living room. He had a good advantage point from there.

Judy nodded slowly at him, her piercing purple eyes resolute. _'I won't let anything hurt you, partner.'_

She reached a paw and opened the door, before stealthily moving into the corridor and disappearing around the edge of the door, her weapon raised and aimed. Nick rested his head against the counter, starting to hyperventilate again. He was scared out of his mind for Judy.

 _'_ _Her leg is fractured! I know she's a good cop, but will she be al-…'_

All of a sudden, a hail of gunshots roared throughout the complex, nearly deafening to his ears.

"JUDY!" He howled out in terror, images filling his mind.

"STAY THERE!" Her order was shoot back in strain. She didn't sound hurt, which wasn't really enough to calm him. He clutched the taser to his chest and prayed.

In the corridor, next to the staircase, Judy had thrown herself to the floor to avoid the rounds of bullets that were shot at her from the stairs. She caught Doug making his way to their floor, and he had to recede back to not be struck by her own bullets.

Her ears, pinned against her back, still caught the sound of his hooves making a hasty escape back down the stairs, and she jumped to her own feet to give chase. Searing pain shot thought her leg, but she ignored it the best she could.

Rounding the landing of the stairs, she caught sight of the sheep, his gun pointed at her. She leaped back, just as two other shots were fired, piercing the wall next to her. Judy's ears flexed at the soft ding of his gun running out of ammo, and she stepped forward to shot, but the sheep was descending the next flight of stairs and out of her aim. She heard him reloading.

Chasing Doug down the stairs, more gunshots were exchanged, rising the complex dwellers and spreading panic in the neighborhood, but none of them struck the intended mark. Fortunately, the corridors were also deserted.

By the time the ground floor was reached, Judy's leg gave out. She made it to the front door before being forced to grab at the walls for support, piercing pain making white flash behind her eyes. She raised her gun, but Doug was already running out of sight around the corner across the street. It was also deserted, thankfully.

She lowered back her weapon and let out a heavy breath, frustrated that the blasted sheep had escaped, but relieved that there were no victims apart from the walls and a fire extinguisher tonight. And the entire neighborhood sleep.

She had a feeling Doug would not return tonight. Not when he now knew she was armed and ready for him now. She'd put a bullet in his head before he dared get close to her and Nick again.

Searing white pain shot up through her leg, reminding her of how much she abused it tonight. Wincing, she stuck the gun back into her pocket and fished for her phone, only to remember that she left it up in Nick's apartment.

Fortunately, there was a phone on the desk that was meant for a gatekeeper who wasn't there. She limped towards it and dialed 911.

"Zootopia Police Department, what's your emergency?" The collected voice of the operator requested.

"It's Offic-… It's Judy Hopps. There's been gunshots fired at 1955 Cypress Grove Lane. Shooter has run away."

"Was anybody hit, Mrs. Hopps? Are you injured?" The voice wavered to a tone of acknowledgement. Judy had a feeling the operator recognized her as the resigned Officer Hopps.

"Negative."

"Can you describe the shooter, Mrs. Hopps?"

"White sheep, male, no horns. He's wearing jeans and a black t-shirt."

"Backup is on its way, Officer Hopps. Standby."

Judy couldn't help a small smile. Her sharp ears picked up a small, barely restrained excitement in the voice. The operator recognized her as resigned Officer Hopps alright.

She looked back at the stairs, thinking of Nick still cowering in his kitchen.

"I need to check on a friend." She stated.

The phone was halfway to the base when the operator answered. "10-4."

Judy limped towards the stairs, wincing all the way. The pain was intense, searing, but she knew it wasn't the pain of a broken leg. She might have snapped a few stitches though.

As the bunny grabbed the handrails in a death grip and used it to pull herself up the stairs, she could only think that she wasn't looking forward to going back to the hospital. She hoped she didn't have to.

 _'_ _I hate hospitals.'_

Getting to the fifth floor, tired and in pain, Judy leaned her weight against the guardrail to recover her breath. She could the sirens of police cruisers approaching fast. Several of them.

"J-Judy?"

She looked up, seeing Nick peeking from his door at the corridor, taser firmly in his paws and fur bristled from the back of his neck to the very tip of his tail. His ears were flat against his skull and his eyes were fully dilated.

Despite it all, Judy offered him a calming smile.

"It's okay, Nick. He's gone."

In the blink of an eye, Nick had let go of the taser and rushed to her side, checking her over for injuries. "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

The doe was a bit surprised at the fox's reaction. "No, I'm fine. He didn't expect me to be armed, so he ran away."

Nick sighed in relief, and pulled her against his chest, holding her close. "Thank goodness."

The bunny returned his hug, listening his heartbeat slow down from the adrenaline. Despite the pain, she felt only relief that she managed to protect him.


	5. Chapter 5

The sight in front of the apartment complex was uncomfortably similar to the one in front of the History Museum just hours earlier.

In the middle of the night, the blue and red sirens were more like blinding lighthouses, painting the streets with their rotating colors. Officers were all over the place, comforting and appeasing scared neighbors.

Both Nick and Judy were relieved that this time there were no reporters in sight. They must be still overwhelmed by the latest news from what happened at the Natural History Museum, but neither one of the friends wanted to be around once they caught whiff of what happened here. It was juicy information.

Sitting yet again at the back of an ambulance, Judy watched on with a frown as a zebra cleaned the bloody mess her leg had become… again. Her little adventure chasing murderous sheep away resulted in a stitch tearing through fresh, reopening a bit of the wound.

The good news was that it was something very simple to fix, and she didn't have to go back to the hospital. _'Thank god.'_

The bad news? It hurt. A lot!

Sitting next to her, covered with a blanket, Nick remained silent and still, avoiding to watch the zebra work on Judy's leg, the sight a bit uncomfortable to the fox.

Surrounding the back of the ambulance, a bunch of officers were gathered in a sort of protective barrier around the two smaller mammals. They were clad in casual clothes since they weren't on their shifts. They were all familiar faces.

"Nice shave, Hopps." Delgato, the white wolf, joked, receiving a whack to the back of the head by Francine's trunk in retaliation.

"Shut up, Delgato!" The group of officers glared at the jokester of the precinct. Officers McHorn, Fangmeyer, Francine, Grizolli, Thunkaby, Johnson, Higgins, Wolford, Snarlof,… not to mention Clawhauser and Chief Bogo.

Judy thought she heard a low growl coming from the fox sitting next to her. Apparently, Nick wasn't in a good mood for jokes. Not that she could blame him.

"Thanks, Francine." The bunny snorted in slight annoyance, looking down at her ruined leg.

It had been shaved at the hospital from the knee down, until the base of her ankle, making it look thinner than her other leg, while the foot remained the same. With the gray fur out of the way, her undercoat appeared white, with a slight coloring of pink from her skin.

It was hideous. The doe felt self-conscious, having half a mind to steal Nick's borrowed blanket to hide herself from her ex-colleagues.

"Hopps, tell me everything that happened." Chief Bogo requested, crossing his arms. The expression on his face wasn't quite of impatience or annoyance, but it still held a no-nonsense demand to it. "All of it."

The circle of officers looked at her, waiting. And she relayed as much information as she could, and not only from what happened here alone. So she started from the moment she came back from the Burrows.

All the while, Nick remained quiet by her side.

It felt like hours until she finished her verbal report, by then exhausted and in too much pain. The zebra had long finished with her leg and the local anesthesia was wearing off. Her leg was _killing_ her.

"It must be retribution." McHorn suggested. "Not under orders from Bellwether, but for what happened to his drug lab."

"Would make sense." Francine nodded. "Clawhauser checked his profile. He's got quite a drug-related history in the system, but his activities went cold a couple of months ago. Just before those mammals started to disappear."

"In a sense, Hopps and Mr. Wilde destroyed what had been a wealthy income of drug money. He must have wanted revenge." Delgato added, arms crossed.

"I don't care about his motives." Bogo huffed angrily. "I want this blasted sheep out of my streets. Now you all go home and get some sleep, because come morning you are all hunting this bastard."

Bogo chased off his off-duty officers, before starting to give out orders to his on-duty officers. They were to patrol the neighborhood for the remaining of the night, and two other officers were to keep vigil around the complex until morning, when the duo would be replaced.

Too tired to pay any attention to orders than were not for her, Judy leaned her head against Nick's shoulder, ignoring the way his body stiffened. If it was too bold of her, she didn't care right now. "This night will never end, will it?"

It took a while for the fox to relax. Judy guessed he wasn't the touchy-feeling kind of mammal, but once he relaxed into it, Nick tentatively moved one arm around her. "Try to rest a little, Carrots."

Despite his request, she fought exhaustion with all she still had, but in vain. Nick's fur was warm and soft against her, and his calm heartbeat lulled her to the very edge of sleep.

Nick felt her body relax more and more, and he was unable to hold back the soft smile pulling his lips. Feeling bolder, he moved a clawed thump in a feather-like caress against her waist, careful of his claw to not awake her with an accidental tickle.

She was warm and oh so soft. Her small body nestled perfectly between his arm and body, like a missing piece to a puzzle. And yet, no matter how small or soft or _cute_ , Judy jumped head on towards danger to protect him.

For more times than he could count now, this small brave bunny risked her life to save his. And after each danger she faced for him, an intense and fierce will to protect her in return bloomed from within him.

It really didn't sit well with his pride that he was helpless to properly do it. The bunny didn't need protection. She didn't need anybody. But Nick needed her. A lot more than he was really willing to admit. Yet.

 _'_ _So maybe Carrots don't need protection against psychopath sheep.'_ The fox thought to himself, gathering the blanket covering his shoulders. _'But I can protect her from other things. For starters: the cold.'_ And with that thought, he covered her small body with the blanket. It wasn't much, but for now, that was all that he could do for her. But one day, he promised himself that he would do a lot more. Somehow.

After a while, standing vigil over her napping form, Nick's attention was diverged at the sound of hoofsteps approaching. Bogo marched towards them, looking as tired as they were. The fox willed his hackles to stay down, but if he could have it his way, he'd tell Bogo off to let Judy sleep a little while more. She was probably exhausted and so was he.

The buffalo stopped in front of them and spared a passing glance at Nick. He looked down at Judy with, dare Nick say it, softening eyes. The fox fought the rising of his hackles _and_ a possessive growl.

"Hopps. Mr. Wilde." Bogo called in a deep but gentle tone of voice. He seemed to be trying to respect her weariness with his attempt to sound less rough. Considering how tired he was, it might be sympathy.

The rabbit sprang to attention and looked up at the larger prey mammal, trying to make sense of her surroundings in the smallest amount of time possible.

"Officers Johnson and Anderson will keep watch at the front of the apartment complex, and twelve others will be patroling the area for the rest of the night. Think you two will still be comfortable spending the night here?"

In that moment, the rabbit saw that despite how gruff and angry the chief looked and sounded most of the time - if not all the time-, he did care deeply for his employees. And ex-employees.

But it was Nick who she was worried about. The fox had spoken very little ever since she chased Doug off.

"Nick?" She called him, and he snapped to attention, as if caught off guard. "Do you want to stay here or go to a hotel? It's your call."

The red fox looked between her and Bogo. He could see that the doe was truly and honestly concerned for him, which warmed his heart to know that someone out there cared for him.

But as for Bogo, Nick wasn't quite sure. Impassive and silent, the large buffalo looked at him as if waiting for his answer, but it was hard to determine whether he actually cared for his answer or not, despite the likely probability.

Nick prided himself in being able to read mammals, but this buffalo was proving to be a challenge.

But in his sincere opinion on the matter, Nick was pretty sure neither he or his bunny friend - or the entire neighborhood, for that matter - would catch much sleep that night anymore, no matter how secured the area was or how it was certain that Doug would not attempt against their lives for now.

Spending the night at a hotel would be also useless, not to mention stressful for everyone.

"We'll be fine, chief." He decided to give the buffalo a break. "We might not catch much sleep, but we'll be fine."

"Good." He nodded. "While at it, you two might consider getting out of the city until we catch Doug. He might try to hunt you both down for retaliation on any other given time, not to mention we still aren't sure how many accomplices worked for Bellwether."

Nick's ears twitched at that. _'Leave the city?'_ Trepidation filled his system. He had nowhere to go out of the city.

Judy noticed the way his body tensed up. Ears falling across her back, she looked up at Bogo. "But where to, chief?"

The buffalo snorted, as if it was a stupid question. "According to your paper, you came from BunnyBurrows. I don't care if you have a family dispute or-…"

"I mean Nick, sir." She looked at her friend, who avoided the larger prey's eyes. "He was born and raised in the city. He doesn't have contacts out of Zootopia."

Bogo paused, acknowledging the situation for a minute. "I can place Mr. Wilde under witness protection until this whole mess is sorted out."

"No." Nick returned, his small voice standing out for the fact he hadn't pronounced himself for so long. "I won't have a cop next to me 24/7." He looked at Judy then. "Unless it was you, Carrots. But you're no longer a cop."

"No to mention Hopps is also a target." Bogo added. "I wonder why I'm not surprised at your rejection." There was evident sarcasm in his voice. "Then your only option is to leave to BunnyBorrows as well, fox."

Nick opened his mouth to reject, but Judy cut him off to it. "Deal."

The fox was surprised at her solo decision. _'What?'_

"Very well." The buffalo straightened, seeming relieved that it was no longer his concern. "You leave the city in the morning. Hopps, I want you in the precint first thing in the morning to discuss a few things first. From there, I'll have an officer escort you beyond the limits of the city. You'll be on your own after that."

"Yes, chief." Judy answered, even though Bogo turned to leave before she said anything.

The two smaller mammals decided to, yet again, attempt to call it a night. Judy noticed that Nick seemed even quieter than before now, and sometimes his expression flashed something close to betrayal when he looked at her. She didn't get it.

They, as in Judy, thanked the zebra for taking care of her leg, and waved goodnight to the two vigilant officers sitting inside their cruiser across the street.

The neighborhood was silent once again, but the latest events left an uneasy ambience behind, so thick it could almost be cut with a butter knife.

So was the sudden atmosphere between the two friends.


	6. Chapter 6

The climbing to the fifth floor was done in complete silence. Add that to the fact that Nick and Judy had their sides flush together due to the bunny needing help to climb the stairs, and they found themselves in a very awkward situation.

For both of them, the whole process seemed to take way longer than it should.

Once they were finally inside the apartment, with the door closed and locked behind them, Nick slowly turned towards her with a conflicted veil in his eyes.

"The Burrows, Carrots?" He said in a voice so uncomfortably similar to the one she heard him use after that fateful press conference. "Is it really a good idea?"

To say Judy was confused at this was an understatement. "It isn't? You did say back there I'm the only cop you trust to have by your side. And we'd both be out of the city. In my eyes, we both win."

Nick leaned against the door with a sigh. "That's not it, Carrots. I've heard there are only prey mammals, mostly bunnies, in BunnyBurrow. What would they think of a fox suddenly showing his muzzle in there? I've got all sorts of ugly stares, Judy, but that doesn't mean I like them."

The sound of her name leaving his lips gave Judy an odd, unpleasant feeling. It was almost like a bad omen. He did, after all, call her by name when the situation got bad back while they were solving the case.

Judy pushed those silly thoughts aside however. Because despite his insecurities, she felt a load of worry lift off her shoulders. And to Nick's confusion, she giggled.

"That's what you're worried about, dumb fox? That you'll be the only predator around in BunnyBurrow?"

"Won't I?" His eyebrow arched in surprise.

"Of course not, silly." Judy giggled again, turning to go sit on the couch. She motioned for him to follow her example. "Sure there aren't many, but there are several predators who's been living there for _ages_. Even my family started a partnership with one!"

"Did they?" The fox said in surprise, sitting next to Judy. "But I thought… I mean… the fox repellent…"

"Oh." The bunny's ears fell at that. She looked down in regret. "About that… yeah, I admit my parents used to be a lot more bias about preds… Heck, even I was narrow-minded, while I prided myself in thinking I wasn't."

Nick offered an honest smile. "I'm not mad because of that, Carrots. Really, I should have understood. I did have my own prejudice on you when we met."

"Yeah…" She averted her eyes, rubbing at the end of her own ears. An old, hard to kill, habit. "I guess neither one of us is above prejudice, are we?"

"No, we aren't." He agreed with a nod. "But you know what truly matters? We learn from our mistakes, and we try to not let these preconceptions guide our judgement." Nick then leaned on his elbows against his knees, looking down at the ground with a frown. "Well… you, at least did. You taught me to do that after blackmailing me into helping you."

Judy giggled, then looked at him with an arched eyebrow. "Are you trying to make me feel better or are you trying to guilt-trap me here?"

"If it works." He shrugged with a smirk directed at her. But he quickly dropped the playfulness for now. It was time to make a few things clear here. "But what I'm really trying to say is that you simply took my strongest weapon and turned it against me. You didn't just trick me to help you solve a case. You tricked me so that I could learn a lesson I should have learned a long time ago."

Judy smiled softly at his confessions. "And… that would be?"

The fox looked down again. "That I became exactly what I hated most in the world. I was only adding up to it." He flexed his fingers, looking at his own dark pads. "I had let those scouts get to me, and they were still getting to me."

"Nick…" Judy leaned forward to get a better look of his expression. She assumed he was blaming himself, but his expression was of complete relief, as if a great burden had been lifted off of his shoulders.

He looked up at her and smiled. A smile Judy had never seen before. Not on him, nor on anyone. It was a smile of pure and simple gratitude, more gratifying than any medal of honor.

The smile of someone whose world became a better place.

Judy smiled back. Oh, stupid dust in her eyes, making her all teary and emotional and…

Nick started to laugh. Loud.

"Oh, shut up!" She grumbled, turning to hide her tears from him. Which was too late, of course. A smile seemed to have been eternally carved on her face. She brought a paw to stop her lips from quivering, her nose from twitching, her tears from spilling.

"Oh, you bunnies." The fox was still laughing as he grabbed her around the waist, dragging her across the couch and against his chest. "You're so emotional."

"Shut up!" Judy said/sobbed/laughed. She felt his grinning muzzle press against the crown of her head, between her ears. She leaned against the touch, hearing the thumping of his wagging tail against the couch. "Dumb fox."

"Amazing bunny." He squeezed her in his arms for a second before letting her go. He saw the insides of her ears flushing with blood. "Aw, she's turning red like me." He cackled at the way she scampered to pull her ears down, hiding the evidence of her embarrassment. "You _are_ cute, Carrots. And that is _not_ a preconception."

Judy rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath about foxes and dummies.

"So…" Nick started, leaning back on the couch as he looked sideways at her. He stole a glance at the black handle of the gun sticking out from her pocket. "Who knew bunnies were so well equipped, uh?"

Judy turned confused eyes at the fox. She caught him looking, and the weight on her pocket seemed to make itself known.

Nick stared as she pulled the weapon from her pocket. There was something about the metallic black object that fascinated him.

"Never been in the middle of a shooting, have you."

The question got him by surprise. He looked up at Judy, meeting her understanding expression as she held the gun on her lap.

Nick shook his head. "No, never." He said with eyes closed.

"I've see a gun before. Seen mammals, police and criminals alike, walking around with them, but I never saw or heard them in action before." He shrugged. "Not on live, at least."

Judy didn't know Nick for long, but she noticed his behavior. He was tense and nervous, but he shrugged it off with his cool and suave mask.

"It's normal, you know?" She offered gently. "To be afraid in a situation like this."

Nick turned to look at her with his half-lidded gaze, opening his mouth to retort with maybe a sarcastic remark. But his mouth closed with a soft snap when he saw the bunny eyebrows lower over her amethysts eyes. She brushed off his comeback before it arrived, and he knew Judy wouldn't accept anything other than honesty from him.

The fox closed his eyes and sighed. "I know. I'm just… kinda annoyed, you know? I mean, we were chased by a savage jaguar around the Rainforest District. We were almost frozen to our deaths back in Mr. Big's mansion… " Nick leaned forward and rubbed at his face, as if frustrated. "I don't even know, Carrots. We've been through so much, had a lot of close calls, and a sheep with a gun… he made a mess out of me. He got to me!"

"I know." She offered in a quiet tone, reaching to touch his arm. "I know exactly what you mean."

Nick looked at her. Her paw rubbed his arm comfortingly, and it calmed him more than he was willing to admit. She offered him a smile, and he saw that she truly understood what he was going through.

She somehow did.

And it made her even more amazing to him. "I was thinking, you know."

"What?" She probed gently, paying close attention to what he was saying. The fox, however, quieted down for several moments, looking at and away from her. He seemed to search for words.

Judy didn't push him further. She waited until he was ready again to talk.

"I remembered when you asked me… to join you. To become your partner." With his eyes averted to something in front of him, he didn't see the bunny's ears slightly raise. "A fox cop… who is afraid of guns." He gave a dry and sullen laugh. "Fantastic cop, uh?"

There was no response from Judy. For several minutes.

When it became almost unnerving, Nick looked towards her, expecting to see that she realized he could never be a good cop like she told him so long ago.

Cops were not afraid of guns, after all. Right?

But while he saw understanding in Judy's smile when he looked at her, he also saw that she was probably thinking that he was a dumb fox. It didn't seem like she was taking back any of those words. Her opinion remained unchanged.

"First of all, you're still a civilian right now, Nick. You haven't been trained around a weapon before. Really, I'd be really worried if you _weren't_ scared. Because, trust me…" She leaned forward and looked deep into his green eyes, sincerity shining in her lavender irises. Her voice became lower, as if she was revealing a big secret. "I was scared too."

That came as a surprise to him. His ears shot up and his eyes widened. "No way."

"Yes way." She smiled, leaning back against the couch and looking up at the ceiling. "Cops have fears too, you know."

"But you just…" He looked at the door, remembering how she stalked forward with the gun in her paws, ready to take death face on. She was injured, facing off against a mammal at least three times her size. And yet, she didn't hesitate even once.

But then again, police officer or not, she was still Judy. She was still a mammal with all the emotions a mammal had. But for the moment she had acted solemnly to protect him, she had pushed back all of that.

Judy smiled at the way he went silent and pensive. "That's what I was trained for, Nick. To fight my weaknesses and fears to protect others." She leaned back against the couch. "It's not like I wasn't scared of Doug. But confronting your fear to protect others is one of the things I'm meant to do. It's what cops are meant to do."

The fox stayed silent, thinking over her words. He looked down at his pawpads.

 _'_ _Brave… loyal… helpful… and trustworthy.'_

"I mean what I said, Nick. You'd make an amazing cop. And being scared right now does not make you a coward."

Her reassurance made him feel a whole lot better. His childhood dream wasn't to become a cop, but he could achieve it if he became one. And knowing that he could have Judy by his side as a partner only fueled his wish to do just that.

"Would you do me a favor, Carrots?" He asked without looking at her.

"Anything, Nick." She perked her ears as she leaned forward to pay attention to his request.

"After this whole mess is sorted out…" He looked at her with a half-lidded smile. "…could you swap another application form for me?"

Her smile widened impossibly wide. "Of course I can!" She punched his arm playfully. "Partner!

"Ouch! Hey, no need for police abuse!" The fox complained as he rubbed his abused arm.

"Oh, you big baby." Judy shoved him until he fell across the couch. He smacked her in the face with his tail as retaliation. "Hey! Knock it off!"

"You started it!" He laughed, batting at her ears with his wagging tail.

She reached to catch it, but it moved away from her paws to smack her cheek again. She succeeded in her third attempt, grasping at the red fluffy appendage before Nick could bat it at her ears again.

The fox yelped in surprise. "If you pull at it, Carrots, I swear I'll bite your ears." He threatened playfully.

"You wouldn't dare." Judy challenged, squeezing the fox's tail.

"Oh, I would." He grinned, unafraid of showing his teeth. Judy didn't flinch, but was reconsidering his threat.

"Fine." She mock-frowned, releasing his tail. It fell to her lap, but didn't move from there. "You're no fun."

" _You_ are no fun." He resisted the temptation at flicking his tail against her small nose. "Dumb bunny."

"Dumb fox."

The fox chuckled, relaxing on the couch, contented. He moved his tail away from Judy's lap, and in doing so he heard something fall to the floor. Glancing over the edge of the couch, he spotted Judy's gun on the floor, closer to him.

Tentatively, he reached out and took it carefully, as if afraid he could trigger a shot form it if he moved it too brusquely.

"Here." He said as he handed it over to the bunny.

The doe saw how tense the looked, and smirked. She took the gun and pulled back the top, which slid back with a click. She top the ammunition cartridge from the bottom of the handle before reposition the top piece back in position. It clicked in place.

Judy looked back at Nick, catching him staring in fascination. His eyes widened when she offered the gun back.

"W-what?" He squeaked when she dropped the gun on his lap when he refused to take it.

"Relax, Slick." She leaned back on the other side of the couch. "Do you think I'm crazy enough to hand a loaded gun over to an untrained mammal? Give me some credit. I might be dumb, but not that dumb. Go ahead: kill the curiosity."

"What a bad joke, Carrots." Nick snorted, sitting up and tentatively taking the black gun by the handle. Once again, he felt the nearly comfortable weight of the weapon in his paws. The metal and plastic – or was it wood? - at the handle felt colder than normal in his rough pads.

No longer in the adrenaline-drive of a life-threatening situation, Nick allowed himself to, as Judy stated, 'kill the curiosity'.

The charcoal black 9mm was brand new and had apparently never been used before that night. There wasn't a single marring mark on its smooth midnight black surface.

It was, of course, sized for a bunny, but he could still comfortably hold it with both paws. And it could most likely still bring down an elephant if used properly and in the right paws.

"I bought it as present for myself after graduating from the academy." She stated, watching as he toyed with her gun. He didn't avert his eyes from it, but one of his ears rotated towards her in attention. "I figured that I deserved something… different and useful for graduating Valedictorian in the academy. My parents didn't understand my conquest. They were proud, but…"

Nick nervously pulled the trigger, jumping in his own skin at the powerful clicking inside the barrel. Judy giggled softly, which was ignored by the fox.

"I guess it was more like a trophy than to be actually used." She shrugged. "I don't really like guns. My ears can't stand them." The bunny admitted with a slight embarrassed smile.

That made Nick look up at her with an arched brow. "So you ditch safety for the sake of your ears?"

"If you had ears as sensitive as mine, you'd get my point. It's like stuffing your muzzle in the garbage, I think."

"A stronger sense of smell doesn't make us feel sick because of a bad smell. We can just detect details that other mammals can't." Nick explained matter-of-factly. "But I think I get your point." Nick chuckled to himself, returning to exploring the weapon in his paws.

"Anyway." Judy continued. "I kept it locked in my family's truck ever since then." She brought her legs up on the couch. She rested on her side against the back of the seat as she watched her friend fuss with the gun. "In a burrow full of nosy and curious siblings, it was the safest place I could think of. Not to mention the glove compartment of the truck had always been a forbidden place for the kids. It had been even before I was born."

"Why is that?" The fox asked, looking at her for a moment.

"Because of the taser I gave you." She nodded to the object, which was left on the counter of Nick's kitchen. "Like I said before, my parents used to be a bit distrustful about predators. Especially my dad. And when my mother gave birth to their first lither, he became straight out paranoid."

"First-time daddy." Nick shook his head in mirth. "My mom used to tell me that my father became a nervous mess when I was born too. She almost felt sorry for him."

"Must be a father thing." Judy smiled. "Anyway, he bought the taser to protect his family, but mom nearly flipped at him." She started to laugh. "I mean, the thing is lethal to anything smaller than a wolf, and can knock out a fully grown bear for several hours! And it was in a burrow that would one day be full of snooping kits! 'Do you have anything other than fluff and carrot mush in that head of yours?' Dad swears those were my mother's exact words to him!"

Nick laughed along with her. "A bunny joke! Coming from a bunny!"

As their mirth died down, they were both immersed in a comfortable silence. Nick kept his eyes on the black gleam of the gun he set on his lap. While still uncomfortable to have a weapon in his paws, he felt confident now that he could conquer that uneasiness with proper training.

Proper police training.

"Carrots?" He called, turning his eyes to her. He felt a bit guilty when he saw her eyes flutter open tiredly. Nevertheless, a comfortable smile sat on her lips.

Judy hummed in response, blinking slowly.

"I…" Nick looked back down at her weapon. And sighed. "I think we should try to catch some sleep." He offered the gun back to her.

Judy blinked at him, as if her brain was tiredly lethargic in processing information. Finally, her eyes grew more aware, and she pushed herself off her rest against the back of the couch to retrieve the gun.


	7. Chapter 7

A couple of hours later, dawn found two friends sleeping on the couch. Nick was the first to awaken, his back sore and his brain complaining from a bad night of sleep. But his curtains could not block the sun, making it impossible to catch 5 more minutes of sleep. Besides, it was time to get up.

Sitting up, stretching his sore muscles and popping his back, the fox felt his tail brush against something warm.

He saw Judy curled up in a ball of fluff on the other end of the couch. His red tail must have been her blanket during the night, because the moment the morning breeze brushed against her small form, she curled tighter in her little ball. Her nose twitched twice in slight discomfort.

Nick couldn't help a smile. She didn't like to be called cute, but that's exactly what she was.

He wanted nothing more than to cover her again with his tail and lie back down, waiting for her to wake up. She, out of anyone, deserved to rest.

The fox moved his tail atop Judy's body, hiding her from the world. He was ready to lie back down and stare idly at the ceiling when he felt his tail being brushed aside. Looking back at the bunny, he watched as Judy unrolled herself and sat up, staring sleepily at him.

"Good morning, fluff." He smirked at her. He half expected her to blush in knowing they had slept so close to one another, but she was either half a sleep or she didn't mind at all.

"Only for you." She groaned, yawning. Her little tongue curled at the tip, tempting Nick to call her the unappreciated adjective.

 _'_ _It's not my fault. She makes it so hard to resist.'_ He continued to smirk while watching the bunny doe stretch herself.

"What time is it?" Judy asked, eyes half closed in sleepiness.

"Seven." The fox said after a quick check on the wall clock near the door. "Maybe we can try and nap some more if you want? Chief buffalo butt didn't say anything about a schedule for us to be at the precinct."

"No, but he's probably expecting us there first thing in the morning." Judy dragged her legs to the edge of the couch, gently pushing Nick's tail out of the way. "You should pack your things so we can get going. Need any help?"

Nick stood from the couch, giving his arms a good stretch. "No, I'm good. Just wish I could sleep some more."

Judy watched her friend for a moment before noticing something. "You're nervous, aren't you?"

Nick lowered his arms at her statement. "Am I nervous?" The fox looked at the bunny with a defiant smirk, which quickly fell at her no-nonsense stare. With a deep sigh, he hunched over, clasping his paws together. "Yes. Yes I am."

His tail started to slash about between them, until Judy laid a paw on top of it, pressing it against the couch so it would stop moving. If Nick froze and blushed, it was impossible to tell. Because to touch a mammal's tail, no matter its length, was something that required a certain level of intimacy. 'Friends' was barely enough. Best friends? Close friends? Maybe.

"It'll be alright, Nick." She smiled, unaware or plainly ignoring his uneasiness. "You'll see."

Nick nodded tersely. He felt his tail crawl under Judy's soft paw. He gave her a suave smirk. "So you're a touchy-feeling kind of mammal, Carrots?"

Surprised at the change of object, she looked from his smirking face to his twitching tail. Gasping, she withdrew her paw from his fur as if it had caught fire. "Sorry!"

"No worries, Carrots. Everybody loves a gorgeous russet." He wiggled his eyebrows, and the insides of her ears turned red.

Giggling uncomfortably, she shoved at his side with her good footpaw, before sliding to the ground. "It's not that, dumb fox!" She protested as she made her way to the kitchen. "I'm just… used to physical contact."

"That so?" He continued to smirk, standing and following her to his kitchenette, stopping behind the counter to watch as she got herself a glass of water. "Are you sure that's not an excuse to touch a handsome fox's fur?"

She turned to him with a defiant pose. "You'd understand my point if you had as many clingy siblings as me."

"And so the young one take the blame." The fox chuckled to himself, turning to go to his bedroom. "I'll get my things ready, Carrots. Feel free to get started on some coffee if you'd like."

"Way ahead of you, slick." Judy giggled, already reaching for the sink to fill a pot with water. "Where's the coffee?"

"Cabinet over the sink. And no comments about the diet shakes. I just like the taste."

"Riiiiiight."

The next hour was spent getting ready to leave the apartment. After packing his things in an old luggage, the fox started unplugging any and every electronic in his apartment. He had sent a message to Finnick, asking him to take care of his place while he was away and promising to explain everything later.

Judy packed what little he still had in his fridge, especially what would spoil quickly. They could eat some of that during the trip to BunnyBurrow.

An hour later, both friends made their way down the stairs of the apartment complex. Nick held his luggage in one paw, accompanying Judy's slower pace as she supported herself on her crutches.

"You're really getting the hang of it." He laughed when she experimentally used the crutches as some sort of stilts after they reached the ground floor, lifting her feet off the ground and managing three long strides before losing balance and having to return her feet to the ground. It was quite a stunt.

"Shut up. I'm not." The bunny gave him a mock frown. "I'm just feeling like a sloth here."

"That specicist, Carrots."

Once outside, they spotted the parked police cruiser across the street. This time, Judy recognized Wolford and Johnson inside the car. She waved at them, and they returned the greeting with smiles.

Nick offered to go and retrieve the truck from the parking lot while she went over to properly greet her ex-colleagues. She agreed with a smile.

She exchanged a few pleasantries with the wolf and rhino before her family's truck entered the street, and she bid them goodbye, thanking them for keeping watch over them and the neighborhood.

The traffic wasn't too bad at this hour, and it took them less than half an hour to get to the precinct, considering that Nick's apartment was nearly all the way across town.

The sight of countless reports at the front of the precinct made both fox and bunny cringe.

"I'm really starting to hate fame." The fox complained. "And I never thought I'd say that."

"Come on. I know where the back door is." She pulled at the sleeve of his shirt before attempting her stunt from earlier with the crutches. Nick had to fight a grin and a joke when she shot him a nasty glare. "Don't even think about it, fox."

The duo managed to make their way in through the backdoor without much trouble. If officers Johnson, the lion, and Rhinowits, the rhino, saw them sneaking around while they were about to leave on their cruiser, there was no sign of it apart from a pair of discreet winks and even more discreet waves.

Although Judy wanted to say hi to Clawhauser, she knew better than to go into the reception. She hoped the Cheetah wouldn't be too upset about them coming and going without him knowing anything.

The morning briefing had happened hour ago, and there wasn't that many officers in the building. Judy guided Nick up flights of stairs and across huge corridors until they were standing in front of Bogo's office.

"Think he's in a good mood today?" Nick asked in an attempt to ease the tension he could feel with Judy. Although everything that last happened, he could understand why she was nervous meeting her ex-superior.

She glanced at him with an arched brow and a knowing smirk. "After yesterday? You can only dream."

She knocked softly at the door, so softly that Nick would have told her to try again. Still, they were somehow answered.

"Come in."

They did, like cubs entering the director's office for the very first time. The large buffalo was hunched over an open folder, reading glasses perked on his snout, and deep dark circles that seemed to be eternally etched onto his face.

"Good morning, sir." Judy greeted, making the buffalo look up at them. Up front, he did look even more tired. It seems the chief of the ZPD didn't have a good night of sleep, and Nick made a mental note to not cross him with his wit today.

Bogo waved a hoof at the pair of large chairs in front of his desk. "Sit."

They walked to the chairs. Nick looked at Judy, who was looking from the tall seat to her bandaged leg. She looked at Bogo, who had his eyes back on his papers, then at Nick.

The rabbit sighed in annoyance. "Just do your thing."

Holding back a smirk, Nick took the bunny bride-style in his arms and leaped up the chair with ease, before setting her down on her feet. Huffing, the bunny settled down with a frown.

Did Judy hate to depend so much on others? Oh, yes she did. A lot.

Bogo looked up at the two smaller mammals sitting on the same chair, looking at him in wait. Nick thought he had been silent so far just to wait for them to accommodate themselves, but Judy knew better. It was his way of unnerving the visitors of his office. Even for mammals that were not working for him, the strategy was effective. She could feel her shoulders starting to tense up, and Nick's form started to get rigid next to her, his tail slashing and bushing up.

Finally, when Judy was ready to speak up, Bogo looked up at them with a stoic façade. "I assume you two have packed and are ready to leave as soon as possible?"

 _'_ _What a tease.'_ Judy thought, mentally rolling her eyes. "Yes, sir. We'll be on our way to the Burrows as soon as possible."

Bogo nodded, never taking his eyes from the papers. It was another strategy to unnerve his guests. "Good. But before you two go, I'd like to discuss a few things regarding your current position in relation to your job, Hopps." He lowered the papers and looked straight in Judy's amethysts eyes.

She gulped down nervously. "Yes?"

"First of all" The buffalo leaned to the side, opening a draw and taking hold of an envelope. "You are the solemn responsible for your shield, Hopps." He huffed, opening the envelope and reaching it towards Judy. She cupped her paws when he turned it and a small police shield slid out of the envelope, falling into her palms. "Don't you ever go leaving it around again."

To say she was surprised was an understatement. She rubbed a thump over the polished golden metal of the shield, which gleamed under the light, reflecting a ray of gold against her face.

Sitting quietly next to her, smiling in contentment at the turn of events, Nick nudged her gently to get her back. The doe jumped and looked at him, before looking up at her, as if seemed, once again superior.

"Sir?"

"Next time you need a temporary leave, just say so." Bogo huffed. "You'll be fully reinstated once this whole mess is sorted out. We'll get in contact." He returned his eyes to his paper. "Now get your tails out of my office."

"Hm… sir?" Nick piped quietly. Judy glanced at him curiously, while Bogo looked ominously at the fox from over his paper. The fox steeled his shoulders and fixed his best suave look. "You wouldn't happen to have one of those employment forms? I'm sure a fox recruit would be a great addiction to the force, don't you think?"

Bogo's face remained impassive, but Nick's ability to read mammals detected the very subtle way his ear twitched and his eyebrow narrowed. The fox remained cool, but deep inside, he was afraid it had been too soon.

The chief looked back at his paper. "The enrollment closed for the season, fox. You'll have to wait for next year."

"That's okay." Indeed it was. It was more than okay. Because he wasn't rejected straight away, which was a surprise. Besides, it would give him more time to prepare. "I can stand the wait. Thanks chief."

Judy punched his arm with a happy smile. Nick yelped quietly, mock glaring at her while rubbing his abused arm.

"If that's all, you are cleared to leave. We'll get in contact once you're are safe to return to the city. Officers McHorn and Delgato will escort you to the outskirts of Zootopia."

"Thanks, chief." They thanked the buffalo, before doing the same ritual in reverse to get down from the chair. Judy was too happy to feel annoyed at having to be handled like a child again, and Nick turned his nose up in the air and contentment.

Once they were out of the door, Bogo spied his office for a clear coast, before leaning on his elbows on the desk with a sigh. "I'm doomed with these two."


	8. Chapter 8

The two friends took the same route to get out of the precinct: through the back door. They avoided the reporters, which were still converged at the front.

They caught Clawhauser's eye however, and stiffened when the enthusiastic cheetah waved excitedly at them. Fortunately, the cheetah's mouth was stuffed with donuts, otherwise he would have yelled out. They waved back at the cheetah before hightailing it out of the building before the reporters noticed the strange behavior of the plump officer.

Out in the parking lot, they found Delgato and McHorn waiting by Judy's family truck, their cruiser parked nearby, looming in comparison to the rabbit sized vehicle. They had paper and duct tape with them, which confused the bunny and the fox.

"You have your family name on the side of your truck, Judy. It's better to hide it while getting out of the city." McHorn stated.

"Either in case Doug sees it leaving the city, or to lose those reporters up front. You choose." Delgato winked, before turning serious again. "In any case, the ZPD is keeping your whereabouts a secret from the public."

"Thanks, guys." Judy smiled in gratitude.

"Sure, but you guys ain't gonna escort us in that thing, are you?" Nick questioned, pointing to the huge police cruiser. "If a fox and a bunny leaving the city in an old rusty truck with a sheet of paper covering the doors doesn't get any attention, than I'm sure a huge police monster truck following behind it will."

Alarmed, Delgato and McHorn looked at one another.

Judy sighed and Nick face pawed. "You didn't think this through, did you?" The doe narrowed her eyes in exasperation at the two cops.

 _'_ _Being a cop, uh? This is gonna be easier than I thought.'_ Nick mused to himself.

Frowning, McHorn punched Delgato's arm, who yelped loudly in protest. "We'll escort you with my personal car. Two civilian vehicles following one another won't be anything out of the ordinary."

The two smaller mammals nodded, satisfied. They made a quick improvised work to hide the logo on the doors of the truck, and soon enough, they were on their way out of the city. The reporters never saw them leaving.

"Seriously, Carrots? I hope that's not the average IQ of a cop, otherwise I'd be offended." Nick commented as he drove.

Since the truck was sized for a rabbit, the pedals and the steering wheel were a little too close to him for comfort, but still manageable. And while illegal to drive a vehicle that was not compatible with one's class size, due to current circumstances, those two officers might have turned a blind eye to it.

Also, they forgot to see his license. It was real, mind you. Just expired. Five years ago.

"Don't tell me." She crossed her arms, pulling her good leg up on the seat. "I'll let it slide this time, though, and blame it on lack of sleep. Last night was crazy for everyone."

"Yeah. Then I'll let it slide too." The fox agreed.

The trip to the very edge of town was uneventful, mostly quiet. The two friends were comfortable in remaining mostly silent and in their own thoughts, until the last few buildings gave way to huge open fields, and pine trees in the distance beyond.

They were leaving the city. For Nick, it was the first time. He had lived his entire life in Zootopia, and never saw its borders before. Sure, the legal delimitations were still pretty far, just beyond BunnyBurrow, which still was under the legal domain of the metropolis. Still, seeing the buildings suddenly give way to pure and untouched vegetation was quite a thing for the fox.

"Is it really your first time out of Zootopia, Nick?" Judy asked, breaking the silence, noticing the way his paws clutched the steering wheel.

The fox looked at her for a moment before turning his eyes back to the road. "Yeah. I've never really seen the border, to be honest." He checked the rear mirror, seeing McHorn's car flash its headlights and stop by the roadside to make a turn and head back. They were on their own now. "Feels uncomfortable to be so out of my territory."

Judy smiled. "It'll be fine, Nick. You'll see. You'll love the country."

Nick smirked. "Yeah. I'll finally find out how it's really like to be a hick."

The bunny reached her good foot out and shoved lightly at his leg. "Dumb fox."

"Dumb bunny." He grabbed her foot and squeezed lightly, pulling it over his lap to annoy her. For a moment, he was curious about her paws since they had no pads, making them very soft to the touch. She pulled her leg back, and Nick shoved his curiosity to the back of his mind.

For the next couple of hours, the two friends became silent. It was a comfortable quietness, in which they took in the sight of the wilderness: passing pinewoods and open fields, with the sounds of the truck and the occasional passing car.

The fox did his best to keep his eyes on the road, but as mundane as a road trip to the countryside could be, it was all very new for him. Small birds flew off from the fields near the road at the passing of cars and perched on the lines hovering above, which wove up and down on their right side of the road.

When seen from a higher place, the crops would look like a colorful quilt, tightly knit together by narrow dirt roads and fences, and sparsely dotted by the occasional tree or house.

The vast open skies were of a light blue, with no sign of clouds or pollution. The sun, seeming a lot brighter and clearer out here, slowly climbed to the peak of the firmament.

It was very bucolic. And oh so beautiful.

Nick stole a glance at Judy, seeing her staring at the roadside with a lazy and nostalgic smile as she leaned against the door. Her ears were raised, but not fully perked. She was at easy, calm and content. At home. He had never seen her so serene, and it calmed his heart in a strange but wonderful way.

Bunnyburrows didn't sound so bad anymore.


End file.
